Self portrait in oil

This is a tiny (5x6") self portrait I did on primed hardboard. It's a very cheap, smooth, low-absorbent surface to work on. Much more preferable to canvas, I think. The weave of a canvas can be cumbersome when working into small details, and the higher absorbency rate makes it harder to wipe away any mistakes. The idea of using a canvas for general painting is more to do with modern thinking. Canvases where ideal when artists lived near the shipping docks and when you had to work on a much lager scale, but besides that, there isn't really any added benefit.